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Belarusian opposition activist Sergei Kovalenko released from penitentiary

Kovalenko was detained in January 2010 after he had hosted a nationalist white-red-white flag on a Christmas tree in the city of Vitebsk

MINSK, September 27 (Itar-Tass) —— Belarusian opposition activist Sergei Kovalenko has been released from The Mogilev penitentiary, his wife Elena said on Thursday.

According to Elena, Kovalenko was released after he had filed a clemency petition to the Belarusian president. Currently, he is staying at his relatives’.

Kovalenko was detained in January 2010 after he had hosted a nationalist white-red-white flag on a Christmas tree in the city of Vitebsk. He was accused of deliberate violation of public order and of offering resistance to police. The court imposed a restriction of liberty on the man but hr numerously violated the suspended sentence regime. I December 2011, Kovalenko was detained for evading the sentence service and sentenced to two years in custody. While serving his prison term, Kovalenko went on a hunger strike and lost 45 kilograms of weight.